Grass Roots Book Marketing

Ted interviewed over 100 people for the book, all bloggers, and his direct attention to the blogosphere assures him grassroots participation. He keeps in close touch with those people mentioned in the book, sending them updates on volume discounts and graphics to put on their site. In any other venue, we’d see this as overly aggressive, but because Ted has a direct relationship with these authors and because most of us are quite proud to be in the book, the result is a group of evangelists that are happy to help promote the book.

Over the last few weeks I’ve seen dozens of interviews, podcasts, blog posts and such that creates great buzz for a book that just released this month. Companies that are looking to get buzz from this tight-knit community would do well to follow Ted’s lead. By edifying these bloggers, not with flattery, but with genuine appreciation, and asking for their help in creating the book, we all have a solid reason to see it succeed.

Similar techniques could be deployed by any company promoting a product. However, note that Ted’s book will succeed because he was already a blogger (and an author of an earlier blogging book) so he had authenticity and passion for the subject *before* he reached out to the community.

Ted’s reaching his audience and building buzz within the community that will help him sell the book. I’m enjoying helping him, as are most of the authors in the book, so take note of how he’s motivated his team. To create a helpful buzz for your product or service, you’d do well to watch Ted’s marketing and take note of how successful it is as tthe months progress. You can follow Ted’s progress here at his book blog.